Writer's Resources:

Brenda Lealman

Reviews

'A series of poems about a death, grief and slow recovery. The collection has coherence and the poems follow convincingly one from the next, creating an emotional atmosphere which is authentic and effecting. Lealman has a simple, taut style which fits well with the material; the potential overflowing of grief is held nicety by the restrained language so that, alt exaggeration and melodrama being expunged, there is an honesty in the pain and toss. The sense of retrospect and of the weight of the time left to live after loss, evoke a downward movement into hurt and regret, yet the collected energy and intelligence and sensitivity of the poems pull in a more positive direction and the tension between the two gives off an excitement of difficult, lived emotion astutely rendered. It takes no more than half an hour to read through the poems and they are the kind of thing I can imagine myself going back to for their genuine feel and the fine, clear images through which Lealman often pinpoints an emotion, an experience. A worthwhile addition to anyone's poetry shelf.' — Penniless Press